It had been a long time since Julie wondered, “How do I find God?” Then the doctor offered her a faith prescription.
By Julie Morris:
Image by ddpavumba / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
“Fatty Fatty Two by Four! Can’t get through the kitchen door so she stayed and ate some more.”
Everywhere I turned when I was growing up someone was making fun of me. Their taunting words penetrated deep into my soul. But when I felt bad about myself, I discovered one place I could go to feel better right away: the refrigerator. You can guess what happened. Things went from bad to worse.
When I was 27, my blood pressure suddenly zoomed out of control. My doctor put me on medication and told me to lose weight and stop worrying. But both were impossible for me.
One afternoon on a visit to Dr. Jones, he gently asked about my relationship with God. Though I had been brought up in church, when I was in college I said arrogantly, “I don’t need a crutch like God to lean on!” and felt quit smug as I made fun of Christians who did.
But I wasn’t feeling smug as I sat in my doctor’s office that day. I knew I needed help so I told him some of my doubts. I admitted that I thought Jesus was a wise teacher, but not the Son of God. He explained that Jesus couldn’t have been just a wise teacher, because Jesus said that he was God’s Son. He had to be who he said he was, or he was a liar or a lunatic.
That really made sense so I continued: “How can someone dying on a cross 2,000 years ago save me from going to hell?”
He said gently, “God sent Jesus to pay the price for your sins—so rather than receiving the punishment you deserve when you die, if you believe in Jesus—having faith that he is God’s son and that he died for you, you will go to heaven.”
After that, he said something absolutely amazing: He said that God—the creator and sustainer of the entire universe—loves me and wants to have a personal relationship with me. Well, that did it! My walls of resistance began crumbling.
When I left his office, I whispered my first words to God in a long time. I told him that I needed him and was sorry for the bad things I had done. Then I invited Jesus to be my Savior.
I began to feel so much better, surprised by the joy and contentment I felt. However, I continued to struggle with overeating.
I kept asking God for help and eventually discovered practical instructions in the Bible that showed me how to draw closer to Jesus and cooperate with him as—together—we dealt with this problem. I lost my weight in 1982, and have delighted in helping literally thousands of others to lose theirs since then. I’m amazed that God turned my misery into ministry!
Do you remember the cruel rhyme I was taunted with as a child? Because of what Jesus has done in my life, the hurt is gone. “Fatty Fatty Two by Four” is a distant memory, because I turned to Jesus to heal my hurts and change my life.
Julie is a popular motivational speaker and internationally recognized author of 12 books. She founded two Christian weight-loss programs, Step Forward and Guided By Him. Other books by Julie Morris are From Worry to Worship and From Worthless to Worthy Connect with Julie on Facebook.
See Julie Morris tell her story with more detail, in this YouTube video:
Are you wondering “How do I find God?” Learn more about Him at GodTest.com.
